


Original Sin

by Archangel Raphael (tsuduku)



Category: Good Omens, Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Creation Myth, Crowley Was Raphael Before Falling (Good Omens), Crowley's Fall (Good Omens), Gen, Pre-Canon, Pre-Fall (Good Omens), Prequel, Religious Conflict, Religious Guilt, The one where Raphael was Crowley, can i get a wahoo, creation myth and whatever else, religious trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 06:18:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20372062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsuduku/pseuds/Archangel%20Raphael
Summary: The story of how Hell came to be, how the angels fell, but most importantly, this is the tragedy of how Raphael lost his name and became the demon Crowley.I spent hours trapped in the ninth dimension trying to come up with ways to explain the origins of things like time and emotion in human terms so please just fucking read this thing. I lost a good chunk of sanity for the sake of narrative.





	1. In The Beginning: Foundation of Genesis

**Author's Note:**

> I dedicate this work to Patricia, the hallucinated spider on my ceiling, and longtime companion. Thank you for your support Patricia.
> 
> This is all based upon the popular headcanon of Crowley having been the Archangel Raphael prior to the fall, and my own gay religious guilt. Let's rock n roll.

For Aziraphael, it all began with a garden, but for Crowley it had all begun further back, at the true beginning, the basis of Genesis. 

The Bible says that the original sin came from the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, thus damning all of humanity from that point on. This is a lie. The original sin goes back even further, before the creation of Earth, before the creation of time, even before the creation of Hell itself. The original sin was curiosity.

* * *

In the beginning, the very beginning, there was God herself. Then came the Archangels. There were 16 of them. 

Ariel, Azrael, Chamuel, Gabriel, Haniel, Jeremiel, Jophiel, Metatron, Michael, Raguel, Raphael, Raziel, Sandalphon, Uriel, Zadakiel and Lucifer. 

Oh beloved Lucifer. 

Each of the Archangels had been created with the utmost care, intended to reflect and embody everything pure, holy, and beautiful, but Lucifer was undeniably the finest of them all. 

More and more angels began to appear on the ethereal plane, each with unique abilities, appearances, and varying ranks. Authority was created. Hierarchy invented. Responsibility brought into existence. However, God herself ensured that no other angels would ever be above her original Archangels. They held the highest ranking amongst them all, second only to the Almighty. They were beloved, treasured, original, but none of them were quite as beloved as Lucifer. This was alright though, as Jealousy had not yet been created. None of the other angels, even those ranking below the Archangels, had any issue with this at all. Everything was perfect. 

Out of all of them Raphael was the happiest to exist, or so he liked to tell himself that. Raphael adored the ethereal plane, the warmth of being as close to God as can be, and the joy of frolicking amongst the heavens with the rest of the Archangels. Though no moment was more joyful than the instant Raphael came to be. God placed light into his hair, creating the bright and gentle color Orange. She then placed orbs of gold into his face, creating Raphael’s eyes and thus birthing the item that later became known to humans as a precious metal, because that’s exactly what Raphael was, he was precious. Long nimble limbs came to be, and from their core sprouted wings, powerful and gentle all the same. God had created feathers exclusively for her angels, and it was the Archangels that sported the best ones, created out of absolute love. Soft supple skin covered the perfectly shaped body of the newly formed Archangel, speckled with bright glowing stars across the surface, with the highest concentration of these celestial freckles on Raphael’s perfect face, highlighting the angelic smile God created for him. A new feeling was created at that moment, it was childlike joy, and it was poured directly into Raphael’s heavenly being. This created a seal on the side of Raphael’s face, near his cheekbones. A small sigil that represented the unique abilities given to him, and the joy that powered his celestial being.

And he was off.


	2. Space, The Original Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Space, Questions, Task, Surprise and the reveal of the original sin, Curiosity, all come into Existence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I have the entirety of this fic done and typed from start to end. I'm just organizing it into chapters that seem to make sense. Archive user tsuduku is capable of organization and rational thought! Amazing, the surprises just keep on coming, and the chapters only grow longer from now on.

Short moments after his creation, Raphael had found himself forming a close bond with the other created Archangels. He was particularly fond of Lucifer. Time had not yet been invented, so existence was almost one long and everlasting day in human terms. This not yet time had been spent gleefully playing alongside Lucifer, the two of them creating games and bringing them into existence. Their joy was then interrupted by the soothing voice of the Almighty, which echoed through the ethereal plane, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. 

“ _ Angels, I have a task for you”  _

A task? What was that? A new invention? Eager to find out, and truly incapable of going against the Almighty at this point of the infancy of existence, the Archangels scurried over towards God. They all stood there eager and alert, waiting to discover what this “task” thing even was. 

_ “I will create new beings, and they will serve under you. Together, you all will begin to create new things as I guide you through it all.”  _

And thus, responsibility and hierarchy came into existence, along with a sudden wave of new Angels. Raphael turned to look at Lucifer, both of them expressing pure joy and absolute awe at their newfound responsibility and their new celestial companions. Eager to please, Raphael and Lucifer moved swiftly towards the new beings together. As if there weren’t already plenty of new additions to existence, a new power came into being at this moment as well. This feeling surged through each of the archangels’ celestial beings, it was the power of creation. Until this point, only God herself could create anything at all. Suddenly, a limited version of this power had been bestowed onto each of the archangels. They were not as powerful as God, no one could be, but now they had been given the ability to create things in order to fulfill their purpose of taking part in The Task. 

“I like this Task thing” said Lucifer to Raphael 

“Yeah me too!” responded Raphael with a delighted tone. 

God had introduced a new plane of existence, she called it Space. It was vast and dark, like nothing the angels had ever seen. A completely blank canvas upon which the Task was to be carried out while God was occupying herself with something else that the rest of the angels would soon find out about. It was a surprise. 

Lucifer, closest to God, suddenly blurted out “why does it look like that?” in reaction to seeing this Space. 

And there it was, the first question in existence. 

* * *

Space, was very different from the ethereal plane that the angels were accustomed to. Their existence was warm, bright, soft and fluffy. Space was quite the opposite. It introduced them to a new sight called Darkness. This was the exact opposite of the light the angels existed in. Space didn’t feel warm or soft or refreshing. In fact, it felt like nothing at all! It was merely a dark empty void, and Lucifer was both curious and hesitant to venture out into it. 

“ _ Because”  _ said the voice of God “ _ I have made these tools for you to use in your creations on this plane of existence. It is your task to bring light into this newfound darkness, and thus the Light will look even more spectacular in contrast to the Dark”  _

And so the archangels were sent into Space with new items at hand. These items glowed and glittered, it was certainly Light, but not the kind of light they were accustomed to. The archangels looked on in absolute awe at the curious appearance of this type of Light; colors had been poured into this light. 

“This one looks like your eyes!” shouted Lucifer as he picked up a violet light and held it close to Gabriel, his multi dimensional violet irises glowing more vividly in the darkness of Space than they did in the light of the ethereal plane. 

“Woah! Look at your skin!” Uriel shouted as well, and pointed towards the glittering stars Raphael’s skin as they glowed brightly in Space. 

“Your hair!” replied Raphael, distracted by the pale blue brightness of Uriel’s hair in contrast to the dark. 

The archangels spent a bit of existence marveling at the change of perspective offered by Space. After they had said all their aahs and oohs they set off to work on creations. Of course, they hadn’t ever made anything before but that did not matter. They could feel the guidance of God in their beings and thus began to freely create whatever came to mind with the new colored light in their hands. This marked the creation of nebulas, stars, galaxies, and planets. With the groundwork now laid out by the archangels, the remaining lower ranking angels entered Space and began to aid these creations by adding in little details. 

It wasn’t long before Lucifer and Raphael found themselves apart from the crowd, working together on a large nebula. The two had gotten quite carried away, splattering colored light into Space, and they bumped into each other. This caused a few stars from Raphael’s skin to come off and much to the angel’s surprise, the freckled stars remained suspended in space. Lucifer picked one up and set it in the middle of the nebula. 

“ _ There”  _ he said, the tone of his voice reflecting the peaceful pleasure he obtained from this personal little touch to their creation. “Now everyone will know you made it, Raphael!” 

Raphael absolutely beamed with joy at this, and he quickly picked up the remaining loose freckles and adjusted them into the light of the nebula. 

“You should add something too!” he said to Lucifer “After all we made this together.” 

The two looked at each other in silence for a moment, thinking of how else they could add a personal touch. Suddenly, Lucifer lifted his hand towards the nebula, but without a color in his grasp. Instead, the archangel began to rub his bare hand into the colored light, swirling it around, blending the colors together, giving it a patchy and near transparent appearance. It was whole, but sparse, and beautiful. 

“There we go!” said Lucifer, quite pleased with himself. 

“ _ It’s perfect”  _ the voice of God chimed in “ _ Congratulations to the two of you for such a lovely creation. Nothing less than absolute perfection from my favorite Angel”  _

The two archangels beamed with pure joyful pride. They had pleased the Almighty, fulfilled their purpose in The Task, and had now inspired the other angels to do similar things with their creations. They added in little points of light, mimicking Raphael’s starry freckles, and blended the colored light around to give it a mixed and nebulous appearance. Henceforth this particular category of Space creations was dubbed a Nebula. 

In the beginning, everything was good.


	3. Negative Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Earth is created and given a special location in Space. A new task is introduced, and the ethereal plane continues to expand. Negative emotions are now brought into existence, and their origins are a mystery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is the saying "cleanliness is next to Godliness" or is it "close to Godliness"? Whatever, it's all Gabriel's fault no matter which way you slice it.

God soon called upon all the angels to unveil what she had been working on. It was a strange looking orb that was quite unlike any of the others that were now in existence in Space, it didn’t seem to have a light of its own, it was quite dull, and was primarily a strange new color called Brown. Everyone silently watched as God placed this orb in one of the planetary systems created in a piece of a larger department they named the Milky Way, a creation that fell under the category of Galaxies. 

The planetary system was created by archangels Gabriel and Michael. The two bonded over what seemed to be a shared affinity of what God called, Order, which was created alongside Responsibility and Hierarchy once the new rank of angels came to be. Together, Michael and Gabriel created a pattern for the rogue creation of Planets, made by Uriel and Sandalphon, which allowed them to be put together in these neat little clusters to ensure Space would be clean and orderly, even with all these new creations sprouting up.

God placed this dull brown orb next to a bright star in one of Gabriel and Michael’s systems. When placed in this particular spot, the orb began to reflect the light around it. Everyone let out a collective sound of awe and surprise as they witnessed the placement completely change the characteristics of the little orb. 

“ _ This is called Earth”  _ said the Almighty “ _ Here, we will set new creations, and these will be given Life. Now that Space is complete you will all be given a new task of making creatures for this Earth which will accompany my own creation, Humanity. Bring to me the creatures that you make and I will breathe life into them in preparation for their existence on Earth”  _

Woah. Now that was a lot to take in. 

Earth? Humanity? Life? All new. All strange. All exciting. 

The angels were all ushered back into the ethereal plane they called home, now renamed Heaven, to distinguish it from Space and Earth. New structures and sectors had been added while they were away in Space. There was now a vast area dubbed The Creation Fields where the angels would make their little creatures before presenting them to God. The archangels had been given their own special area to mingle and relax without interference from the other angels. This was to remind them of the point in existence when it had just been the Almighty and the Archangels alone. It was comforting, especially since more and more types of angels were coming into being all over Heaven. 

“ _ Gabriel, come aside with me”  _ said God, thus leaving the remaining archangels alone in their new residential lounge. 

Big changes were occurring, and the Almighty was pleased with Gabriel’s sense of order. Thus pulling him aside to consult the establishment of organization and order to the ever expanding Heaven. 

“What do you think all of this is?” asked Lucifer out loud. He wasn’t talking to anyone in particular. 

“Doesn’t matter” Replied Michael. “We’re just doing as we’re told, and enjoying the new things God makes” 

“Suppose so” said Sandalphon in agreement. 

“There’s no harm in asking” said Raphael, breaking the pattern. “Lucifer is God’s favorite after all. If anyone can ask, it would be Lucifer. Right?” 

“I think he’s right,” said Ariel while moving closer to where Lucifer and Raphael stood. 

The two greeted the other with a smile and huddled over in their own little corner to discuss the recent events. 

“Why Gabriel?” asked Lucifer, his voice much lower now, as if he didn’t want the other archangels to butt in. “What’s so great about his  _ Order _ thing? I mean, did you see me and Raphael out there? Not to mention your own work, Ariel. It was fantastic! Order and Cleanliness are nowhere near as vibrant and lovely as what we made” 

Jealousy was created. 

There was an immediate shift in the ethereal dimension as the creation of this newfound emotion rippled through existence. Had God made this? That didn’t seem right, she would usually announce whatever it was that she made. Besides, this new emotion didn’t feel very good. Why would God create this? Then again, the feeling manifested itself the moment Lucifer spoke about Gabriel using those particular words. Could it possibly be that Lucifer had been able to create a new emotion and set it out into existence? Until now, only the Almighty herself would make such things, but Lucifer was the favorite. Perhaps he had been granted more creation power? From that moment on, nothing was ever the same. This was the beginning of the end of true bliss. 


	4. It Came in Waves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waves, ripples, and new emotions. Heaven expands, thrones were built to be broken.

Existence continued, more angels were welcomed into it and more structures added to Heaven. They even put in a gate to keep out angels from headed into Space and Earth, the other two planes of existence at this point. The archangel’s private sector had gotten some new additions as well. There were thrones set up for each one of the high ranking angels, different colored light scattered around as decor, with each angel’s preferred area having their own personal touches. Raphael’s favorite area was right beside Lucifer’s, as the two remained quite close. Orange and gold were Raphael’s colors of choice, matching his hair and eyes. Following suit, Lucifer’s favorite spot was opalescent just like his eyes and hair as well. On the opposite end of the spectrum was Gabriel and Michael. The two kept their spaces devoid of these ostentatious colors. Preferring the natural glow of Heaven’s original light and keeping the area free of trinkets and this so called “decor”. 

“Gabriel really ate up that Order stuff didn’t he?” mused Lucifer. Raphael and Zadakiel had both heard him, but chose to remain silent. 

Over the course of existence Lucifer continued to ask questions. He grew more and more restless and thus he began to preach his ideas and curiosities to anyone who would listen. Doubt was created, and Lucifer spread that amongst as many of the angels as he could. New emotions continued to be created, and no one seemed to know where they were coming from or who was creating them. Instead, all the angels had grown accustomed to the sudden wave of a new emotion coming into existence rippling through the ethereal plane. No one asked questions, only Lucifer did. 

Meanwhile, the voice of God was heard less and less. The last they heard from God, was when she announced the creation of Time. This would be set into motion on Earth as soon as all the angels had finished making their creatures in preparation for Life and Humanity. Time, was a gift, a new concept that allowed humans to savor existence and realize its precious moments.

There was talk everywhere. Talk about this new thing called Time that the angels had yet to witness. Talk about Lucifer and his philosophies. Talk about how what exactly humanity was going to be. Raphael would sit there and listen to all this talk, but he did not contribute. He would mainly listen to his fellow archangel rant about God’s true intentions, the power of questions, and the importance of realizing that they too had individual power of their own. Even when Raphael heard of Lucifer’s plan to rise up an army against the Almighty herself, he remained absolutely silent. 

For starters, Raphael didn’t even think it possible to go against the Almighty. That’s why she was the Almighty, wasn’t she? Following that was the Guilt, one of the new emotions that had been introduced to existence. This emotion welled up inside Raphael when he would think of the possible repercussions that Lucifer could suffer should he go on and tell the Almighty about Lucifer’s plan to overthrow her. Punishment and Suffering had not been created yet, but Raphael had indeed seen moments in which God had been less than pleased with some of the angel’s work on the new creatures that were set to roam the earth. Her disapproval was literally the worst thing in existence at that point. Pain, Evil, Suffering, Punishment, none of these things had even been conceived of yet. So anything less than absolute pride and compliments from the Almighty was indeed the worst possible thing in existence at that point. 

In his limited thoughts, this is what Raphael had pictured would happen to Lucifer, and of course, from his point of view this was not good. So this new emotion took hold of Raphael whenever he thought of his beloved friend Lucifer, the favorite of God, to receive anything other than the utmost respect from God herself. He was certain that Lucifer would also not like the idea of not receiving praise and compliments, as he had been the favorite as far as existence was concerned. Lucifer was not accustomed to being treated in any way other than perfect.


	5. The Wrath of God, Part 1: The Birth of War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Existence was forever changed, and this was the moment that the first of the four horseman had been conceived, War. A new plane of existence is created to place the rebels in. The birth of Hell as we know it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S A COLD AND IT'S A BROKEN HAAAALLELUJAAAAAAHHH

What was eternally known as The Great War, was actually never a war at all. Nor was it grand or great by human standards. There was no epic battle, no bloodshed or struggle. War herself hadn’t even come into existence yet. It is precisely for these reasons that it would forever be remembered as The Great War. This was the moment all of existence changed. The moment the first of the horsemen was conceived. The point of no return. 

* * *

Lucifer had convinced a rather large group of angels to join him in what he called rebellion. He created weapons, the first in existence, and handed them out to his supporters. The intention of these new items was to cause harm, a thing that had never been done before. Evil was brought into existence. 

Every angel that was there will never forget the moment Evil came to be. Unlike the other new emotions and concepts, Evil felt stronger. The ripple felt throughout the ethereal plane when Evil came to be was the first time any of the angelic beings had ever felt pain. Evil had an unmistakable feel to it, and an awful unforgettable stench as well. This would later prove useful on Earth when the type of angel known as Principalities would be sent there to do their miracles, the strong frightening scent of Evil would linger for a very long time, allowing them to safely avoid areas of the Earth that smelled or felt particularly Evil, or it would guide them directly to the source of said Evil in an attempt to thwart it, as would their jobs be. For now, this newfound Evil was absolutely useless and repulsive. 

The moment Lucifer raised his arm, commanding his followers to hoist their new items, Weapons, God herself ended it all with a mere snap. There was no war, but the damage had been done. 

_ “LUCIFER” _

The voice of the Almighty reverberated through all of existence itself. No one had ever heard such a tone or felt such force. Fear and anger were created at this moment, causing two ripples of feeling to sweep through the ethereal plane, one after the other, pain followed. 

_ “YOU DARE BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE STRONGER, BETTER, MORE POWERFUL THAN I? WHEN I GAVE YOU EXISTENCE. YOU WOULD NOT BE HERE IF IT WEREN’T FOR ME” _

Raphael had retreated to his throne while all this had happened. He wanted no part in Lucifer’s battle, but he did not wish to intervene either. Lucifer’s philosophies made perfect sense to Raphael. He did not want to directly rebel, but he did see the point in this particular frame of though, and thus he remained neutral, or so he thought. Raphael was musing with a little handful of lime green light as he thought about some of the creatures he had seen in the Creation Field. None of that amused him at this point though. He found most of the lesser angels to be quite lacking in creation ability; creativity. There wasn’t a single creature that truly captured his interest like the initial batch that had 4 limbs, strange textures, and made even stranger sounds. They were all eager to name these new creations, but God had said that she would task the humans with doing that.

The rumble caused by the initial wave of Evil was enough to knock Raphael out of his throne. However, this was nothing compared to the absolute wrath of God as she berated Lucifer for his crimes. The new sensation of Pain was unbearable, and the fear that came with it was exponentially unpleasant. Heaven was no longer a haven. It was no longer pure and perfect. It had been tainted by these waves of Jealousy, Guilt, Hatred, Evil, Fear, and Pain. 

While Raphael did not _ want _ to go towards the front gate, he could feel it within him that he absolutely _ had to _ go there. With fear filling his celestial being, he made his way towards the gates of Heaven, which for now, only separated this plane of existence from the other two, Space, and within that Earth, which was still under construction. Raphael didn’t know what he expected to see, but when he arrived at the Gate he was certainly not prepared for the sight that met him. 

There, for all to see, was Lucifer in all his glory, surrounded by a cloud of humiliation. There was a sudden shift in the atmosphere, and right away everyone knew what it was. A new plane of existence had come into being, somewhere out there, beyond the gates of Heaven. Another wave rippled through the ethereal plane, Grief was born. 

“_LUCIFER” _

The wrath of God now audible once more. 

_ “You have attempted to overthrow me, your creator, creator of all. You have forgotten your place in existence, and as such there is now no longer a place for you in this realm. You are hereby expelled from heaven. I have created a new realm to confine you to, and it shall be filled with all the unpleasantries you have brought upon existence. You will suffer for the rest of eternity. You will never return home” _

These words were too much to process, too difficult to comprehend. How was it possible to be kicked out of the only place you had ever known? This had never happened before. Suddenly the light beneath them gave way, a deafening roar was heard throughout the ethereal plane, it was the sound of Heaven itself cracking and breaking apart. The light gave way to a long plunge into the darkness of Space, and at the end of it was an ominous substance, glowing menacingly in the distance. This was the first glimpse of Hell. 

Without warning, Lucifer’s majestic wings began to emit a similar glow to that which they saw down below. It was Hellfire, and it was eating away at the grand lushness of Lucifer’s wings. The sound that followed could only be described as unholy. It was a screech of sheer agony as Lucifer was being stripped away of his very identity. The hellfire continued to eat up the bright plumage of the archangel’s feathers, emitting a foul stench into the atmosphere, and transforming what was once brilliant opalescent light, into cold evil darkness, the first of its kind. The agonizing screeches continued, but were soon joined by a chorus of angels mimicking the same sound.

The first was Raphael. 

Without even realizing it, Raphael had begun to mimic the sounds that Lucifer made, as he too was overcome with immeasurable agony at the sight of his dear friend being stripped from his identity in the most violent and horrendous display existence had ever had to bare witness to. Raphael dropped to his knees and reached a helpless hand out towards Lucifer, but to no avail. 

_ How could God possibly do such a thing? _

Next was Azrael, who had been Lucifer’s right hand in planning the whole rebellion to begin with. Azrael followed the same pattern as Raphael, mimicking their friend’s agonized screeches, and helplessly falling to their knees. 

The angels that supported Lucifer came next. Hundreds of voices repeating the same cries of pain in some sort of choir of suffering. 

Lastly, came the remaining angels. The pure, innocent, untainted angels. They too began to screech in horror and helplessly fall to their knees as they couldn’t handle having to bare witness to the absolute annihilation of one of their own. 

As if that had not been punishment enough, another violent cracking sound could be heard coming from the opposite direction. WIth the Sight of God, everyone could see exactly what was making that sound without moving from the ring of horror that now surrounded Lucifer. The cracking, was the sound of Lucifer’s throne in the Archangel residence breaking apart and crumbling into nothing. The first dethroning in the history of existence. 

But the shame and humiliation did not stop there. 

With another unholy shout coming from the now ex archangel, Lucifer dropped to his knees. His luscious opalescent locks of hair were being cut off and dropped into the gaping hole that lead out of Heaven, through the still dark parts of Space, and directly into the unknown pit of Hell.

_ Hallelujah. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eventually, when the theatrical dramatic masterpiece of misery known as the song Hallelujah had been created, Crowley absolutely lost his fucking shit listening to it. He plays it whenever he's sad, especially on long sad drives, but The Bentley turns it into Queen to try and cheer him up.


	6. The Wrath of God, Part 2: Paralysis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Precious metals are introduced into Space, and would eventually fall onto Earth to be treasured and exploited by Humanity. Raphael takes his fall, the last of the angels to be cast out of Heaven and fated to become Demons, inhabitants of the new plane of existence called Hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Filled with cute fun tidbits about the existence of precious metals, such as platinum and gold, in the inexplicable realm of Space!

Lucifer, the favorite of the Almighty, had now been completely stripped of every shred of celestial identity, but he was still in Heaven, he still had to Fall. The entirety of Heaven watched on in horror, the first moment of Suspense, as they all braced themselves for what came next. With one quick snap, Lucifer’s charred remains were flung into the darkness of Space, plunging directly into the new plane of existence that was Hell. As his being descended into darkness, a trail of the last remaining bits of celestial identity were left behind, suspended in Space. 

Platinum.

The breathtakingly beautiful precious metal that had once been the irises of the most perfect being in all of Heaven, had been ripped directly out of his face and left behind in the vastness of Space as a grim reminder of what once was. 

The remaining rebels were at an absolute loss for words, knowing now that this was the cruel and harrowing fate that awaited them. The remaining innocents were too at an absolute loss, knowing that they must now bare witness to the same display of vehement brutality over and over again until all the rebels were cast out. 

Azrael followed the same brutality as Lucifer. Then Hastur, and  Semihazah , going down the line of Lucifer’s created hierarchy. One by one their angelic beings burned in front of the gates of Heaven, for all to see, and their charred remains dropped into the dark chute through Space that lead to the newly created Hell. Each of them leaving behind the last of their celestial selves permanently suspended in the darkness of Space. 

No one had ever nor could ever experience the level of grief that Raphael was presently experiencing as he watched his beloved friends, his companions since the beginning, be stripped of their identities and mercilessly flung down into the unknown. Even once the corrupted batch of Archangels had taken their Fall, it was still beyond painful to watch the lesser angels meet the same demise. Raphael loved them all regardless, he was, after all, a creature of love and light. This experience was foreign and tormenting. 

A deafening silence overcame Heaven when the last of the rebellious angels had been cast out. Everyone standing still, paralyzed by the events that had just unfolded before their very eyes. Once again, before anyone could even think of moving on, Raphael was called out. This was not over yet. 

_ “Archangel Raphael”  _ the voice of the Almighty broke the silence

_ “You chose not to act”  _ she began “ _ yet your feelings betrayed me still. You took the Doubt spread by Lucifer and Azrael. You questioned my methods in silence. You knew exactly what they were planning to do and yet you did nothing to prevent this. As such, you shall be punished accordingly”  _

Wait, wait,  _ punished?  _ But he hadn’t actually done anything! 

_ “You pretended to have forgotten the words you overheard, and as such, we shall forget you. The name Raphael will stay with me. Your Heavenly counterparts will not remember you, though you will remember all of them. Archangel Raphael, I hereby strip you of your name, your title, and your place in Heaven, and sentence you to Fall to Hell where you shall remain for the rest of eternity.”  _

Before he could even react, Raphael was picked up off his knees and carried out by the edge of the hole that had opened up in the light of Heaven. The ones dragging him forward were none other than Gabriel and Michael, each one holding onto an arm and pulling Raphael’s celestial body towards the edge of Heaven itself. In that instant, it all clicked. With the now absent spaces amongst the archangels, the favorite gone, it seemed that Gabriel had risen to try and fill that spot. Heaven would become a corporate landscape of order and cleanliness. Eventually birthing the saying “cleanliness is close to Godliness” because, thanks to Gabriel, it truly was. 

A familiar cracking sound echoed through Heaven. It was Raphael’s throne, cracking, breaking, disintegrating as he soon would. With Gabriel and Michael restraining him on each side, God stripped Raphael of his hair. The beautiful orange locks falling onto the base of Heaven’s light, with a few strands plummeting into the darkness of Space and towards the gates of Hell. 

“Gabriel” he begged. 

The last thing Raphael saw in Heaven, was the deep dimensional Violet of Gabriel’s eyes, and they were empty. Devoid of emotion. Raphael had not noticed the moment in which his name had been taken, his presence forgotten, because he was instantly overcome with the absolute agony of the Hellfire consuming his celestial being in the same way it had done all his friends before him. The screeching resumed, and he felt the burn of the newfound flames consuming all the angelic light from him, one atom at a time. It felt like an eternity, yet what followed was even worse. His charred remains had been kicked through the opening of Heaven, and he plummeted down through the darkness of Space and he knew he was going straight to Hell. 

The flames were gone but the burn continued, spreading into his eyes, ripping the pure gold right out of his irises and leaving the precious metal suspended in the darkness of Space. The light sigil of Joy that had been placed on the side of his cheek at creation was now experiencing the burn of the Fall, leaving behind flakes of Joy scattered throughout Space, and burning an ugly mark where there delicate sigil had stood. Next came his freckles. The stars peeling out of his skin and scattering themselves across Space as he continued to descend into hell. 

The Fall felt eternal.

He watched as his home grew more and more distant, and as his celestial qualities were all but sripped away and left out of his reach. With all the grief in his being he silently bid farewell to his creations in Space, as he knew he was likely to never see them again, at least not as he once had. Everything he knew and loved, was now gone, fading into the distance and establishing themselves in the newfound concept of Time, as existing in the Past. 

His remains finally hit the impenetrable grounds surrounding Hell’s gate. A loud cracking sound was heard as he hit the ground, and it echoed through the darkness, slowly fading away. 

It was his legs.


	7. The Gates of Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now stripped of the name Raphael, he arrives at the Gates of Hell already transforming into a demonic entity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? You thought demons just named themselves?

He lay there, helpless, and in pain beyond imagination, looking up at where he had fallen from. Oddly enough, unlike the view they had in Heaven, he could not see the entrance of Heaven from here. His home, gone. 

Soon, a new kind of pain kicked in as he realized, much to his dismay, that he could no longer move his legs. A new emotion emerged. He felt broken. Completely and utterly broken, and so were his legs. As each one of the angels fell, they all landed in different ways, destroying a part of their being in the process. For some it was the wings, the arms, the face, but for him it was his legs and feet, cracked under the wrath of God. 

Paralysis came into being. 

Laying there at the gates of Hell, he could feel a strange new sensation. He was now aware of existence marching onwards as it had never done before. This was Time, and it made him feel desperate and exasperated. How much longer would he have to lay there? What would happen next? What _ was _ next? And why did his memories of Heaven now feel so strange? What was this thing he felt? It was the Past. 

_ He _

At that point in what was now called Time, he came to the harrowing realization that he no longer had a name. As much as he panicked and yelled out into the darkness, he could not remember his name or identity. Time continued to march forward leaving him paralyzed, confused, and desperate in front of the gates of Hell, unsure of what he was waiting for. 

_ “Are you the last one?” _said a voice. It sounded familiar, but distorted. 

The face that came into view was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was ugly, disturbing, and covered in blisters, a side effect of the destruction caused by the Fall. Yet there was a strange familiarity to this particular face. He was certain he had seen it before in Heaven, in the now newly formed Past. It suddenly hit him

_ This had once been Azrael _

“I am Beezlebub now” said the disfigured creature, as if the once archangel could read his thoughts “Right hand of Satan, Prince of Demons” 

Satan? Is that what Lucifer had become now? 

Demons? Demon. 

Still nameless, he at least had an identity now, he was a Demon. The thought of this sent another shock of pain rolling through his destroyed being. He was no longer an Angel. He was no longer perfect. He was no longer holy, a concept which had only come to existence now, as a way to distinguish the fallen from the innocent. Unholy vs Holy. 

“Can’t you get up?” asked Beezlebub. 

“No” he replied.

Another surge of pain ran through him as he heard the cruel distortion of his voice, an insulting parody of what it had once been. 

“You get used to it” said Beezlebub, recognizing the grievous reaction of coming to terms with the disturbing reality of what they had become.

Determined to get out of the humiliating position he was in, and desperate to feel something other than the anxiety inducing march of time, he reached out his arms and began to drag himself past the gates of Hell. However, as soon as he reached out he was met with another miserable modification. Where the starry freckles once sat, delicately placed into the skin of his arms, were now some disgusting looking hard items; scales. He screamed. 

“_WHAT IS THAT IN ME? WHAT IS HAPPENING?” _he shrieked out in fear. 

“Not sure” replied Beezlebub “but we’re all going through something similar. It has to do with the new thing called Time. It seems to be slowly modifying our already distorted beings” 

They took a few seconds to process the fact that this was their existence now. Nothing more than grief, pain, and absolute horror. Then he continued to drag himself further into Hell.

Beezlebub watched as the nameless demon began to crawl on the ground, an action Beezlebub had only witnessed in the Creation Fields as it was reserved for some of the new creatures that would be sent to Earth, albeit these creatures crawled with much more dignity than this. They were, after all, heavenly creations and not cast down demonic entities. 

“Crawley” said Beezlebub “That’s what I’m going to call you now” 

And so he had a name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how the FUCK do you spell beezlebub???


	8. Kindness, The Journey to Eden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hell formulates a plan that sets Armageddon into motion at the beginning of the 6,000 years. Crawley comes face to face with his new corporation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record I am very fond of the color Yellow, and not at all fond of Bodies nor Physics or even Biology.

Time marched on, and Crawley was growing accustomed to the misery of Hell. Crawley had now learned to efficiently maneuver around by dragging himself on his belly and moving through the grounds of Hell. The scales that replaced his starlit freckles had now completely covered his new being. Crawley was ugly, hideous in fact, but at least he had an identity, name, and being. 

Beezlebub too had grown into a new demonic being. Everyone around them had new names, functions, and appearances, but had come to finally accept this. Everyone except Lucifer, now Satan. 

Upon his arrival in Hell, Crawley had seen the remnants of Lucifer only once. Lucifer was transforming into the most miserable and disgusting being in all of existence. What was once the embodiment of perfection was now becoming the exact opposite. And so, Lucifer shut himself away, completely out of sight as Time transformed him into Satan. 

“ _ Crawley”  _ the voice of Satan reverberated throughout Hell in a similar fashion to how the voice of God existed in Heaven “ _ Report to me and Beezlebub at once. We have an assignment for you”  _

With an exasperated sigh, Crawley began to slither towards the throne room. Hell, really, was just a sick parody of Heaven. The layout was the same, the varying sectors more or less the same, but of course instead of light and joy it was all darkness and pain. He crawled past the crowded halls of demons busy with some unknown project that Satan was preparing for. When he reached the designated sector Beezelbub was standing in wait, with a bizarre object on the side. 

“What the fuck is that?” asked Crawley, eyeing the strange new figure. It was pale, had limbs and layers, a face and strangely colored hair. But most importantly, or rather, most disturbingly, this thing had Wings. Of course, they were nothing like the majestic light filled feathery wings of angels. They were blackened like the remains of the wings consumed by hellfire during the fall, but they were wings nonetheless.

“This is you” said Beezlebub “at least, this  _ will  _ be you soon” 

“EW!” exclaimed Crawley “I look  _ nothing  _ like that! Look at it!  _ Look at it _ ! It’s got fucking  _ legs!”  _ he let out a bitter hiss, the legs were an absolute insult as that was what Crawley lost in the fall, leading to his new name. 

“And look at its eyes!” Crawley continued to berate the odd looking vessel whose eyes were a sickening yellow tint. Of course, nothing compared to the precious golden irises he had lost to Space, but Crawley was still in denial of that. “What kind of sick twisted color is that??? It looks nothing like me. I repeat, NOTHING. I will not even touch that thing and you can’t make me do it.” 

_ “Yes, I  _ ** _can_ ** _ make you do it”  _ interrupted the voice of Satan. 

Okay, technically yes, Crawley could absolutely be forced to touch that thing, but he didn’t want to. 

“Listen up,” said Beezlebub “humanity will start on Earth soon, and you are being sent to try and corrupt them. God has given each human a limited amount of Time on Earth, and in the same way she used Time against us, we plan to use it against her latest creation.” 

“Alright” replied Crawley. Of course, revenge against God for casting them out had been the talk of the town since they had all arrived in Hell. So this all made perfect sense. 

“But I don’t see what any of that has to do with that  _ thing  _ you have there” 

“This  _ thing  _ is going to be your vessel on Earth” Beezlebub snapped back “it’s called a Body, and quit talking shit about it because I worked very hard to make it. The Almighty knows that we will try to ruin Humanity, and as such she has set some strict parameters to the plane of existence called Earth. It’s all some sort of sick game to her” 

Of course it was a sick game. Everything seemed to be that way for the Almighty. 

Beezlebub walked closer to the body to begin explaining its functions. “On this Earth, Time will have a more important role in shaping Existence there. Physics is a new thing, and its whats forcing us to use this body to be able to maneuver through the Earth so that we can walk amongst humanity spreading our ideas and manipulating them to fall into Hell along with us once their allowance of Time has run out. This Body has various layers and components from bone to organs, muscle, fat, and a protective layer of skin. Be careful though, it’s rather delicate. If it gets harmed too much you will be expelled out of it and I have no plans of making another one for you. So you better keep it in good condition.” 

The entire time this tutorial was going on Crawley looked at the vessel with absolute disdain in his eyes. Beezlebub must have quickly noticed this because the next words out of their mouth was as follows 

“If it makes you feel any better, the angels are going to be forced to use similar vessels too. It’s the law of Physics and whatever else makes Earth unique” 

“Good” hissed Crawley “it’s only fair those idiots suffer something too” 

After all this debriefing about the new scheme, Crawley regrettably inched towards his vessel to get a closer look. Its sickening yellow irises haunted him, they were a disturbing parody of Crawley’s precious pools of gold prior to the fall. Even worse than this however, was the hair. A hollow empty echo of what had once been brilliant locks of pure orange. Suddenly, something caught his attention. Off to the side of this vessel’s face was a familiar dark squiggle. Upon closer inspection Crawley noticed it was mocking the sigil of Joy that once marked his celestial being. 

“I tried to remember as much of you as I could” mumbled Beezlebub “at the very least you won’t be confined to the ground in this vessel. It has legs that you can use on Earth” 

Silence followed. This was, and eternally would be, the only attempt of an act of kindness that Hell would ever know. Neither Crawley nor Beezlebub knew how to react as their capacity to express and experience positive emotions had been lost to them. If hugs could exist in Hell, they would have shared this gesture right now, but they couldn’t. Crawley couldn’t even thank Beezlebub. 

And with that, the Body disappeared, sent off into the Garden of Eden where it would wait for Crawley to inhabit it.


	9. In The Beginning: Genesis Revisited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crawley arrives at the Garden of Eden on the newly functioning plane of existence henceforth known as Planet Earth. This is where the other beginning commences. Deadly snake venom is created

Earth was magnificent. Upon his arrival to the Garden, Crawley silently gawked at all creation, taking a moment to bask in the glory of it all. Crawley hadn’t felt anything even close to this sensation since he was cast out of Heaven. Glory, or at least the closest thing to Glory that could be experienced other than celestial glory itself. 

Suddenly, two strange looking creatures approached Crawley. They looked an awful lot like the Body that Beezelbub had made for him. Huh, so that was why the vessel looked the way it did. The two creatures walked right up to Crawley and introduced themselves as Adam and Eve, the first of humanity. 

Adam knelt down to Crawley’s level on the ground and gave him an analytical stare. 

“Snake” said Adam

Oh? So they could speak too! Interesting. 

“I shall call you Snake” 

Before Crawley could reply something along the lines of “ _ That’s not my fucking name”  _ a familiar voice echoed through the garden. It was none other than the Almighty herself. 

_ “Excellent work Adam”  _ she said “ _ you have finally named all of the creatures on Earth. You and Eve may rest now”  _

And with that, the voice was gone.

Instead of filling him with a soothing calm or gentle joy as it once did, the voice of the Almighty now brought up a cocktail of toxic emotions in Crawley, and they soon came uncontrollably pouring out of his mouth; venom. 

“Snap out of it!” said Crawley to himself as he had become quite disturbed by the manifestation of negative emotion that secreted from him. “Find the stupid body and get your mission over with. The faster you do that, the faster you can leave.” 

Crawley slithered around the Garden in search of the body he was issued. Instead, he found something else. Something better. It was a tree filled with fruit. As Crawley slithered closer to it, the knowledge and understanding of what this item was, filled his mind. 

“Forbidden.. Fruit?” he mumbled to himself “it's Forbidden is it now? Perfect” 

With this, Crawley now had a plan. He would tempt the humans into absorbing this forbidden fruit, thus corrupting them in an instant. Crawley twisted himself around the trunk of the tree, slithering up into the branches and near one of the so called Fruits. From this height, he could now see the body waiting for him at the edge of the Garden. 

“ _ Focus!”  _ he hissed at himself “maybe if you corrupt the humans now, you won’t have to go anywhere near that pathetic Body”

Crawley had made up his mind. He wasn’t sure it was going to work, but it was worth a shot. He called out to the humans, and waited. Sure enough, Eve soon appeared. It didn’t take much, it didn’t take much at all, but of course humans proved throughout the course of history that they were rather forgetful and prone to exaggeration and all sorts of other forms of distorting truth, an ability that was apparently all their own. 

“Take it” purred Crawley, manipulating his voice to sound as lovely as he could possibly make it. 

Eve, without a second thought, took the fruit into her hands and did something quite unusual with it. Much to Crawley’s surprise, Eve raised the fruit to her mouth and took a part of it. That was enough. Crawley could feel in the atmosphere the notification that his job here was done.

Well that was easy.


	10. Good Omens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We come to the end of the beginning, and the start of the canonical beginning, where Crawley first sets eyes upon Aziraphael.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You took a perfectly good angel and ruined it! Now look at it, it's got anxiety!

Quite pleased with himself, Crawley slithered off towards the edge of the Garden to morbidly watch what would happen next. He had expected this all to be much more complicated. Beezlebub had told him that angels would be present here as well to try and interfere with their plans. Yet Crawley had seen no sign of an angel anywhere. These human things were not very well designed. They were certainly not smart at all, and had easily succumbed to Crawley’s persuasion. How unexpected. If they were this pathetic and useless, what was the point of Humans in the first place? 

As Crawley reached the edge of Eden, he felt something horrible. A violent and sudden pull. In an instant he was now inside of the vessel he had seen earlier from the tree. 

_ Fuck _

So this is what Beezlebub had meant when stating that Time would have more influence here. The passage of Time had caused Crawley to forget that the body was propped up at the edge of Eden, and as soon as he came into contact with it, he was sucked into it and trapped. 

_ Oh fucking hell. _

This felt absolutely DISGUSTING. Crawley could instantly feel the limitations of this vessel, as well as its many layers of nonsense; bone, muscle, organs, fat, skin. All of it felt so heavy and yet it felt fragile and slow. Really slow. 

But he was off the ground. 

These new legs were nowhere near what Crawley remembered his celestial ones to be like, but it sure beat dragging himself around. And then came the wings, oh the wings! Once again, not even an atom of similarity to angel wings on the ethereal plane, but it was better than nothing. 

Crawley began to stretch out his new legs and wings, only to be interrupted by a particular smell. It smelled like worry, but there was a hint of something else, something _ good. _Crawley shifted his gaze to the direction whence the smell came, and in the distance, on the opposite side of the edge of Eden, he saw yet another curious looking creature. There really seemed to be no end to the surprises. The creature in question was in possession of a Body similar to the one Crawley had, but there was nothing Earthly about it. This had to be one of the angels within a vessel that Beezlebub had warned him about, and it held a weapon reminiscent of the ones created by Lucifer during the rebellion, a flaming sword. 

Sure enough, Crawley’s assumption had been proven correct, as the vesseled angel suddenly spread its wings and flew into the Garden. The voice of the Almighty returned, and was now berating Adam and Eve for having done whatever it was that they did with the fruit (Crawley had not yet learned about the concept of eating and was perplexed by the memory of Eve ingesting a part of the fruit). 

Blah blah blah punishment. 

Adam and Eve had been cast out of Eden, and upon witnessing this Crawley felt the toxic cocktail of emotion, venom, return to his mouth. Another sick and pathetic parody, this time of the events that had happened to him and his comrades. The Almighty was beginning to be rather predictable. 

With a sigh, Crawley turned his body around and faced the barren landscape outside of the gates of Eden. Suddenly, the scent of worry and goodness returned, stronger this time. 

Worry? Since when do angels smell of fucking _ worry? _

“Oh dear.. Oh my…” mused the Angel

“Didn’t you used to have a flaming sword?” asked Crawley, noticing that the weapon he had seen the angel wielding in the distance was no longer in sight. 

“I-I-I… I gave it away” replied the angel.

“Gave it away?” asked Crawley. What kind of a fucking angel was this? Did it break when it entered its respective Body? 

“Well it’s dark out there! A-a-and there’s wild animals!” this angel’s voice was pure worry and concern. 

The two occult beings stood there at the edge of Eden, watching as Adam and Eve stumbled out into the unforgiving landscape beyond the Garden, wielding the flaming sword that was intended for the strange angel that watched over them. 

“Do you.. Do you think I did the wrong thing?” asked the angel, now turning to face Crawley. Its eyes shone a brilliant crisp shade of cerulean, the face crafted to suit the angel was soft, gentle, and perfect. To quite literally top it off, pale fluffy blonde curls sat over the angel’s head. 

“I don’t think you’re capable of doing the wrong thing, angel” Crawley spat out the last word with the first ever hint of sarcasm in existence, created to purposefully mock the being that he once was. 

“Oh! Oh why thank you! I’ve been quite worked up about it all this time.” a smile of relief spread across the angel’s lips, and the scent of naïveté radiating from it. 

Seriously, who the fuck made this creature? They took a perfectly good angel and somehow managed to ruin it. It’s got anxiety now!

The first ever raindrops interrupted the interaction. The second the first raindrop hit Crawley’s cheek he immediately looked up to the direction it had come from, catching his first glimpse at the atmosphere above, and instantly he recognized the familiar light up ahead. It looked like the base of Heaven, where the light had once cracked and given way to the remaining darkness of Space revealing the first glimpse of the pits of Hell. 

Suddenly his view was blocked by another familiar sight. Part of the white feathery wings of the angel that stood beside him was now overhead, shielding Crawley from the drops of whatever the hell that was. At this moment the venom in Crawley seemed to disappear, replaced by a sensation that he had nearly forgotten, a sensation he only experienced once before in Heaven. Crawley’s eyes followed the wing to the being which it had sprouted from. His sickly yellow eyes met the crisp cerulean eyes of the angel, and it suddenly clicked. 

Love. 

For the first time since Heaven, Crawley was overcome with love. 

For Aziraphael, it all began with a garden, but for Crowley it had all begun further back, at the true beginning, the foundation of Genesis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really though, REALLY, if you think about it, who/what the fuck made Aziraphael? We love him but if we look at this through lets say Gabriel's perspective, Azi is truly a pathetic excuse of an angel and quite possibly the first creature to experience or be plagued by anxiety.

**Author's Note:**

> Archive user tsuduku is capable of writing something other than fantastical stupidity! who would've thunk! Can I get a WA fucking HOO. 
> 
> Anyway, the basis for the original Archangels is derived from the mystical Angel Cards in spiritual whatever, because if we actually got into the theology and multiple interpretations here we would take all of eternity. So just deal with it, or go read another fic.
> 
> This will eventually conclude in the scene of the prime series where we see Crowley and Azriaphael interact for the first time ever in the Garden of Eden. No, it will not go beyond that. In all honesty this work is just me projecting all of my own religious traumas onto Crowley, and venting about having to be human and have a body. The human body is a scam, truly it is the ultimate scam. 
> 
> Lets not forget that I gleefully scatter about my own personal philosophies regarding space, time, emotion, and whatever else makes existence, Existence. 
> 
> Last but not least I am basing Raphael/Crowley's appearance on the flamboyant amazon prime David Tennant interpretation of this nightmare of a creature. Why? Because his hair is firey, my hair is firey. He wears dapper black suits, I wear dapper black suits. He is eventually stuck in the 70s and becomes one groovy ghetto demon, I am a groovy ghetto demon that is also stuck in the late 70s. Neither of us can drive. Sunglasses 24/7. Surviving off alcohol, black coffee, and an oddly named antidepressant that starts with an A. Aziraphael/Aripripazole. You get my point. 
> 
> It's technically an antipsychotic but who fucking cares when it has made this fic possible. Both make me "go too fast", whine, worry, and have me enamored with Danish pastires. Wahoo.


End file.
